Chapter 283: Chapter 237: The Screwed-Over Cheng Wei! 80 Million Human Dao Fire, Must Not Be Given Up at Any Cost
Third, taxis are highly mobile, which makes it difficult for street teams to promote the app.
Just imagine: with over 4,000 taxis spread across all of Jinling’s major districts, how much manpower and money would it take to get all those drivers to install Fast Taxi?
In reality, without an authorization letter from the Transportation Association and a hefty promotional fee, taxi companies had little interest in pushing their drivers to "get online."
After all, whether the drivers earned a lot or a little didn’t affect the fixed daily fees the companies collected from them.
This was particularly evident in the Jinling market.
So, in a work email, Cheng Weixing noted his plan to open up the driver-side registration to private vehicles. This would not only increase the platform’s capacity to accept rides but also pressure taxi drivers to download the Fast Taxi app themselves.
After all, once passengers got used to hailing rides online, drivers who didn’t use the app would inevitably see a drop in their orders and income.
This was Chen Yansen’s original plan all along!
However, in the Human Dao Fire values for February, he didn’t find any contributions from the drivers under Fast Taxi.
This meant the system didn’t recognize the monthly compensation generated by these drivers, whose employment was formally tied to the taxi companies.
The only way was for Fast Taxi to sign labor contracts directly with the ride-hailing drivers!
But this move was tantamount to creating an "internet taxi company" in disguise. It would inevitably lead to a direct conflict with traditional taxi companies, which would be extremely detrimental to Fast Taxi in its early stages of development.
During this time, he had discussed the policy issues with Tao Jingwen and even Meng Yuanzhi, and neither of them advised him to do it.
If he did, Fast Taxi’s relationship with the taxi companies would shift from collaborator to competitor.
Take Luzhou, for example. Many taxi companies there were state-owned enterprises and were tied to the livelihoods of tens of thousands of ordinary families.
In Meng Yuanzhi’s own words, "I can support you, but you need to think about the consequences."
When the value of taxi medallions plummeted, the number of people who would want him dead could be in the tens of thousands.
More importantly, Fast Taxi’s operating costs would also soar, making profitability difficult.
First, it would be difficult to explain to investors like Penguin, Ah Li, DST, and Huake. Second, the high labor costs and reduced expected returns would also make future fundraising more difficult.
Investors put up money to make a profit, not for charity.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Yansen suddenly stood up and gazed out the window at the endless sea of camellia flowers.
’Taxi companies are doing just fine living off their fixed daily fees. Is Fast Taxi going to go out of business by taking a commission?’
Chen Yansen mused softly to himself, his eyes narrowed.
’This is a massive industry that could provide over eight million jobs!’
’It could generate at least eighty million wisps of Human Dao Fire for me every year!’
’If there’s only one "taxi company" left in the world, I want it to be Fast Taxi!’
Having made up his mind, Chen Yansen returned to his seat and replied to Cheng Weixing’s email.
"’Sign labor contracts with the ride-hailing drivers and pay for their full social security and housing fund benefits?’"
When Cheng Weixing learned of his big boss’s latest decision, his mind started buzzing.
He knew this would bring enormous challenges to future operations.
Currently, Fast Taxi had only three core revenue streams: commissions on orders, information service fees, and advertising revenue.
Cheng Weixing was suddenly in a bind, caught between ensuring driver income and protecting shareholder interests.
But he didn’t dare defy his boss’s orders.
The next morning, Fast Taxi announced in Hang City and Jinling that it would open its platform to private vehicles, pay for their drivers’ full social security and housing fund benefits, and provide a guaranteed base salary.
As soon as the news broke, the taxi drivers and taxi companies were immediately up in arms.
’Aren’t they stealing our business?’
A day passed, but only a handful of drivers came to join.
From the perspective of the private vehicle drivers (i.e., unlicensed "black cab" drivers), the wool always comes from the sheep’s back. If Fast Taxi was willing to spend an extra one or two thousand yuan per driver each month, they figured the commission rate must be ridiculously high.
Some taxi companies also paid social security for their drivers, but the contract fees or fixed daily fees accounted for anywhere from 30% to as high as 60% of a driver’s income.
After discussing it with Chen Yansen, Cheng Weixing changed the labor contract to an optional system. The number of drivers joining skyrocketed instantly.
This left Chen Yansen speechless.
He had underestimated the complexity of human nature. He immediately dropped the mandatory requirement, leaving the choice in the drivers’ hands.
With the increase in private vehicles, Fast Taxi began to strictly vet driver backgrounds and strengthen identity verification. At the same time, it used technology to monitor trips for safety, providing users with features like a safety hotline, audio recording protection, one-tap emergency calls, and driver behavior feedback.
On March 21st, Fast Taxi integrated with the Gaode Map database.
On March 22nd, Kuai Pao integrated with the Gaode Map database.
Only then did news break online: Senlian Capital was about to fully acquire Gaode Map. The Lighthouse Country’s Securities Association had already approved its privatization application, and Gaode Map would be delisted by the end of March at the latest.
Seeing this news, Zhang Xuhao had a sudden realization. No wonder Eleme’s delivery route planning and its order-matching and dispatching systems could never beat Kuai Pao.
’So they’ve been in bed with Gaode Map all along!’
’They had access to firsthand, real-time intersection data!’
’As for the publicly announced integration dates, they were probably fake—just a smokescreen to ensure Senlian Capital could complete the acquisition of Gaode Map smoothly.’
’They only released the information selectively after the dust had settled.’
Zhang Xuhao had at least that much basic business sense.
But he no longer cared about these things. Instead, he was pushing his suitcase, seated on a plane bound for Yanjing.
He had accepted a job offer from Nuomi Network and was preparing to take a break from the food delivery industry to enter the group-buying arena.
...
...
On another ordinary weekend, a long line of interviewees snaked along Xue Lin Road at Xuyuan.
Orange Technology, Orange Pay, Pinbei Mall, and Today Technology had all set up their spring recruitment fair booths in an open space right next to Pearl Lake.
Although the interviews for these four companies were tough, the compensation was exceptionally high.
Starting salaries for positions in operations, marketing, and sales were at least 5,000 yuan.
For majors like computer programming, electronic information, and engineering design, the minimum starting salary was 8,000 yuan.
It might not seem like much, but for a Xuyuan graduate in 2012, it was an extremely respectable job.
Besides, there were also rental subsidies equivalent to 20% of one’s monthly salary, meal and transportation allowances, quarterly bonuses, and more.
"Brother Sen, I can’t believe that after all this time, Qiangzi and I still ended up as your subordinates."
Beside a stone bench near Liu Xi’s spot, Song Yang sighed emotionally. Wang Zhengqiang nodded in agreement.
With Three Passes and One Reach suffering one defeat after another at the hands of Cloud Speed, Song Yang’s campus delivery station was naturally hit hard. Without a moment’s hesitation, he terminated his contracts with the other delivery companies and became the campus agent for Cloud Speed Express.
’Other people get reborn and collect a dorm room full of girls,’ Chen Yansen thought with a faint smile. ’I, on the other hand, managed to turn all my roommates into my employees.’
"You can’t be a campus delivery agent forever," Chen Yansen teased with a smile. "I’m different from you. You’re a rich second-generation heir who’s going to go home and inherit your dad’s dozen or so hotel chains."
Hearing this, the smile on Wang Zhengqiang’s face vanished.
’It’s true!’
’Chen Yansen is a self-made tycoon, Song Yang is a rich second-generation heir, and I’m just a working-class kid!’
"I’m not going to be that pathetic! I’m going to rely on my own abilities and become a hotel chain tycoon, one step at a time!" Song Yang declared emphatically.
"Does your girlfriend agree with that?" Chen Yansen asked.
"Why would she need to agree?" Song Yang was baffled.
Chen Yansen just smiled and said nothing. He had met Song Yang’s girlfriend. The girl’s intentions couldn’t have been more obvious; to put it bluntly, she was attracted to Song Yang’s status as the head of campus deliveries.
After getting to know him better, she discovered he was also the young heir to a hotel business. There was no way she would let him go now.
If Song Yang insisted on playing out some stupid drama like "I don’t want the family money, I’ll struggle on my own," the girl most likely wouldn’t wait for him.
However, Chen Yansen kept his mouth shut. They were in the honeymoon phase; there was no need to pour cold water on them.
People can’t teach people lessons, but life’s events can, and those are lessons you remember for a lifetime.
"You guys keep chatting. I’m heading back to the dorm. See you tonight."
Chen Yansen stood up to leave.
Today was Tang Zhenzhe’s birthday. He had booked a private room at Shuangqing Restaurant and invited the other five "dads" from their dorm for dinner.
"See you tonight," Song Yang and Wang Zhengqiang said, waving.
As Chen Yansen walked toward Room 0418, he controlled a willow leaf, making it float about three meters away from him.
To any onlooker, the leaf was just swaying back and forth, drifting in the gentle breeze, with nothing unusual about it.
This was a training method Chen Yansen had devised himself. Although the Spirit value on his panel hadn’t increased, the objects he could "lift" with his Spiritual Power had clearly gotten heavier.
Before, it was a single toothpick; now, it was five or six of them!
Just as he reached the intersection of Xue Lin Road and Xuehai Road, a student with slightly dark skin and short hair abruptly approached and blocked his path.
